Cloth covered garment button



July 15, 1952 J WOLFE 2,602,975

CLOTH COVERED GARMENT BUTTON Filed Dec. 22, 1947 2 SHEETS-Si-EET l INVENTOR.

fiussd/ M/o/fe ATTORN EYS.

July 15, 1952 I J, WOLFE 2,602,975

CLOTH COVERED GARMENT BUTTON Filed Dec. 22, 1947 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 I A ISL 4:

g j] INVENTOR.

(" I y fiussd/ J MJ/fe ATTORNEYS.

Patented July 15, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 'c o'rHcov-EREp GARMENT BUTTON Russell J. Wolfe, Buffalo, N. Y. Application December 22, 1947, 'SerialNo. 793,102

My invention relates in general to buttons and more particularly to ornamental cloth covered buttons used on womens apparel.

The principal object of my invention has been to provide a button which may be covered with fabric without the use of the usual dies or press. Another object has been to provide a button structure which may be easily covered with fabric by the user, and one in which the fabric maybe easily removed at will and replaced by fabric having a different pattern or color.

Another object has been to provide a structure of such nature that when assembling the parts thereof, the material which is being used to cover the button will be tightly drawn against the body thereof.

Moreover, the fabric is easily and securely fastened in position by simple means which permit the removal thereof at will for laundering or replacement.

The above objects and advantages have been accomplished by the device shown in the accompanying drawings, of which:

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of my complete device;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the body part thereof v e Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the plate member thereof;

Fig. 4- is a sectionalview of a modified form a of thestructure; e

Fig. 5 is a fragmentaryjsectional Viewofan other modified form ofthe invention;

Fig.- 6 is a sectional elevation of an assembled button embodying a'modified'form of my inven tion;

' Fig. Wis a bottom plan view of the body member of the modified button illustrated in'Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view of the modified body member taken on line VIIIVIII of Fig. 7;;

- Fig. 9 is a side elevation of the prong ring used in the modified form of button of Fig. 6;

Fig. 10 is a plan view of the prong ring of Fig. 9'; and I Fig. 11 is a fragmentary view showing amodified form of the prong.

Referring now to the form of invention'shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, my device comprises a body member H) and a plate member ll. Ihese members in this form of I my invention are made by a process of molding and are preferably composed of any one of a number of suitable plastic materials. I

The body member Hl obviously may'have any desired shape or configuration suitable to the 1 Claim. (Cl. '24-113) 7 thereof.

stretching thereon of the fabric which is to form the cover of the button, and for illustrativepurposes. I have shown this portion of the button as of circular shape having a'convex uppersurface. A stem l3 extends downwardly through an annular recess [4 formed in the body. The stem [3 is integral with the body and is provided "at its lower end with an enlarged head I5 which is preferably of V-shape and formed with an inner tapered surface It and'an outer tapered surface 20 which meet and unite at an annular apex 21. The diameter of the head is somewhat larger than the diameter of the aperture 32 formed in the plate member II. The enlarged head of the stem is provided in its lower end with an inverted V-shaped notch 22 which extends inwardly, thus forming two bifurcated portions giving to the head a certain amount of resiliency as these portions are pressed toward each other whenassembling the button. The bifurcated portions will spring back into normal locking position after having passed through the aperture 32. of the plate member H, as will be hereinafter -described. The ends of the bifurcated portions are provided with'registering apertures or thread receiving eyes-23 whereby the assembled button may be fastened to the garment by means of thread passed therethrough. Arc shaped apertures 24 are formed through the top of the body member H] by parts of the mold (not shown) which encircle the stem and permit the relatively large apex portion 2| of the head to be withdrawn from the mold. Furthermore, relatively flatportions 25 are provided at opposite sides of the stem and head and across the opposite sides of the bifurcated portions of the head at a-posi'tion to lie between the ends of the arc shaped apertures 24 forpermitting withdrawal of the stem from the mold. The body member ID of the button may be provided with an annular recess and extending upwardly therefrom is an annular inverted V-shaped groove 26 which is positioned between the rim of the body member and the stem The material covering the button is pressed into the recess and the groove when the plate and body members are assembled. The plate member I l which is preferably disc-shaped is made to fit into the recess 30, and in the form of Figs. 1 to 3 it is provided with a plurality of upstanding anchoring prongs 3| which are preferably sharpened and of inverted V-shape. These prongs fit into the V-shapedgroove 26 of the body part when the parts are assembled.

The plate portion of the device .is provided with a centrally arranged opening 32 which is preferably tapered and inclined downwardly at an angle substantially equal to the angle of the tapered surface [6 of the head of the stem. The diameter of this opening 32 is slightly larger than the diameter of the tapered portion of the head when assembled to thereby accommodate the thickness of the fabric covering the button, the difference in diameter of the hole and the engaging portion of the stem, however, beingsuch as to grip the'portionjof. the fabric between these two surfaces; As shown in the drawings the smaller diameter of the central aperture 32 of the plate member is smaller than the diameter of the apex portion 21 of the head, and in order to facilitate the assembling of these parts, the

the. lower edged the wallwhereby it may expand or contract slightly when the plate member is put in place, thereby accommodating it to the thickness of the cover material used and resultplate member is formed on each side of the aper ture with oppositely arranged. arcuate slots 33,.

thereby providing for some resiliency in the portions 34 of the member which lie between the arcuate slots and the aperture 32. Obviously, sincethe width of the=stem and head across the flattened surface is less than the distance across the apex portion 2|, the plate member II,

when assembling the device; is-registered with the body portion' so as to bring the resilient portions 34 of 'the plate member opposite the inclined 'surfacesgflbf the head. The-outer periphery of the plate-member is preferably formed with a surface 35 which is inclined inwardly toward the upper face of the body member, and the peripheralsurface 36 of the recess 30 of the body-member is similarly inclined, whereby the material l2 covering the body member is morereadily stretched across the body memberwhen assembling and is thereby more .firmly held in place. In Fig. 4 I have shown a modification of my invention in which the body part H1 is formed with an annular recess 40 having a substantially flat upper surface 4!, against which the prongs 31- of the plate member U are designedto be pressed. V 1 v I .Inthemodificationof Fig. 5, the body part 43 is formed'withan annular inverted V-shaped groove 44 and with an annular recess 45'.[ The prongs 46 in this form of the invention are carried 1 by. a ring 53 which is made separate from the bottom plate member 5|. The stem 52.is provided with an enlarged head 53, as-in the other forms of the invention and the plate member 5| is formed with a central-aperture 54 for resilient passage over the apex portion 55 ofthe head;

In the form of invention shown in Figs. 6-11, inclusive, the body member 63 is formed with an annular recess 6| thereby providing a wall 62. The stem 63 is extended downwardly from the central: portion of the wall and is provided at its lower end with an enlarged head 64. The enlarged head is formed in its outer endwith an inwardly extending slot 65 thereby providing two bifurcated ends 66. In this form of the invention a prong ring 10 is provided. This ring "which is preferably made ofmetal has a plurality of upstanding prongs H for engagement with that portion of the cover material 12 of the button which is disposed in the recess 6!. This ring has a central opening 13 through which the twisted edge .portion of the material may be passed previous to placing the ring within the recess, The plate member of this fom of the invention is so proportioned as to fit within the edge of the body memberand thereby be disposed within the recess 6| thereof. The plate member is formed with a centralopening I5 forpassage over the resilient bifurcated ends 65 of the en larged head 64 of the stem.

ing in asnug fit between the outer periphery of the plate member and the inner surface of the wall 62. In order to give added support to the stem 33,. the body member is formed with a pair of integral webs extending from the wall 62 to the stem and preferably in line with the flattened portions 82 thereof. The prongs 'H are sharpened so as to readily pierce the cover material and they are therefore tapered in form, as shown in Fig. 9. However, these prongs may be shaped as indicated in Fig. 11, where each of these is. shown as having opposite curved-shaped indentations 84. This form of prong may be used where it is desired to keep the size of the perforations through the cover material at a minimum.

From the foregoing it will be obvious that when assembling the form of my device illustrated in Figs. 1-3, the fabric being used to cover the button is stretched over the body member and is brought together toward the center and gathered around the central axis of the member which may be easily accomplished by twisting the material. This is shown by broken lines in Fig. 1, and. the material thus .twisted into a gathered portion 42 of relatively smaller diameter is passed through the opening 32 of the plate member ll, shown in dot and dash lines in Fig. l, in position for ready assembling. After the gathered portion is passed through the plate member, it is held by the operator while the plate member is pushed upwardly into engagement with the body members.. The material is thereby first forced upwardly toward and into contact with the lower end of the stem portion. Further relative axial and non-rotative movement of the two button members will cause the resilient portions thereof to be flexed while the opening 32 of the plate member is passed over the bifurcated head of the stem, carrying with it the material which is, during this process of assembling, tightly stretched across the lower edge of the periphery of the body member. When the plate member enters the recess 30 of the body member, the resilient partswill snap back to their normal positions, thereby firmly locking the parts together. As the plate member is being forced into the recess 30 of the body member, the material is tightly stretched between the registering inclined surfaces 35 and 36 of the two coacting members, and the prongs 3i serve to force any surplus material into the inverted V-shaped groove 26 of the body member. Obviously, ir there is not sufficient material to pass up around the prongs 3| or if the materialdoes not possesssuilicient resiliency to stretch, the prongs 3| will pierce the material. These prongs together with the coacting adjacent surfaces of the body and plate members will thus serve to initially stretch the material across the outer surface of the body member and to securely grip the same in position thereon. After the button members are assembled, as just pointed out,

the surplus material projecting through the aperture 32 and from the lower end of the stem is cut off. When it is desired to remove the material from the button, it is only necessary to pry the plate member out of the recess 30 f the body member, whereupon the material may be readily removed from the body member and re-covered with the desired new piece of material in the manner which is above described. Obviously, the same procedure is gone through when covering the button of the modified form of Fig. 4.

When assembling the invention of Fig. 5, the material is stretched across the outer surface of the body and across the bottom recessed surface. The ring 50 bearing the prongs 46 is then put in place, the prongs serving to engage the material and press it into the inverted V-shaped groove 44. Final assembly of the parts is brought about by placing the plate member in position and forcing it over the apex portion 55 of the head. Since the fabric I 2, in assembling this form of invention, is initially held in place by the prongs J 46 of the prong ring 50 before the plate member 5| is put in position, it is not necessary that the fabric be disposed between the aperture 54 of the plate member and the head 53 of the stem, and, therefore, these parts are so proportioned as to give maximum security to the assembled members.

When assembling the button member shown in Figs. 6-11, inclusive, the cover material 12 is stretched over the outside surface of the body member 62 and is gathered toward the center. The gathered portion is then passed through the central aperture 13 of the prong ring and, while being held by the operator, the ring is pressed down upon the gathered material, causing the prongs thereof to pierce the material and to force the same into the recess 6| by further movement of the ring. The material is thereby tightly drawn around the outer surface of the button and across the lower edge of the wall 62 thereof, whereupon the plate member 14 is put in position over the lower end of the stem 63 and forced into engagement therewith by being passed over the resilient bifurcated portions 66 of the head. Before the plate member is put in position, the surplus material is pushed into the recess 6! of the body member by any suitable means passed through the opening 13 of the prong ring. The parts are so proportioned that the plate member will rest against the prong member when the latter member has reached a position where the material will be stretched tightly across the body member.

From the foregoing, it will be obvious that by means of my invention the body member may be covered with any desired fabric material without the use of tools and in such a manner as to permit the fabric covering to be removed for laundering or to permit any desired change of color or kind of fabric.

While I have described the major portions of my invention as being made from molded plastic,

it is obvious that any other suitable material having the necessary characteristics may be used. Furthermore, while I have shown the buttons as of annular formation, the invention is equally applicable to buttons having polygonal peripheries. I do not, therefore, wish to be limited to the exact material and form herein shown and described, since some modifications of the details may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

A button comprising a body member formed with a central recess terminating in a peripheral rim, a disc-shaped plate member adapted to be disposed within the recess of said body member and having formed therein a centrally arranged aperture having a continuous periphery, a stem formed integrally with said body member and extendingoutwardly through the recess formed therein and beyond the rim thereof, said stem being provided with an enlarged integral head having an inverted V-shaped periphery formed by an outer tapered surface and an inner tapered surface, said tapered surfaces meeting and joining in an annular apex, the diameter of the apex of said head being larger than the diameter of the aperture of said plate member, the outer tapered surface of said head facilitating assembling of the parts of the device, and the inner tapered surface thereof being removably engaged with the aperture of said plate member when assembled, the outer tapered surface extending beyond the outer surface of said plate member and formed with thread-receiving eyes, a fabric covering stretched over the outside of said body member and secured between the adjacent peripheral surfaces of said members, and a prong ring disposed within the recess of the body member and supported by said plate member, said ring being formed with a plurality of upstanding prongs, whereby the material will be initially stretched across the rim of the body member previous to its engagement between the coacting surfaces of said members.

RUSSELL J. WOLFE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 103,571 Collins et al May 31, 1870 261,216 Fest July 18, 1882 592,610 Hornich Oct. 26, 1897 1,160,591 Gerber Nov. 16, 1915 1,397,957 Gulick Nov. 22, 1921 1,446,801 Kuckelsberg et al. Feb. 27, 1923 2,246,316 Oharek et al. June 17, 1941 FQREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 11,227 Great Britain z 1884 

